Perfect Writer:1.00:CDP OEM/Lesson/TEACHME.PW
Text file with short introduction tutorial to Perfect Writer. File content | Learning To Use PERFECT WRITER | | On Your | | Columbia Multi-Personal Computer | Welcome to PERFECT WRITER! This begins a series of short disk based lessons to acquaint you with Perfect Writer as it operates on the Columbia Data Products (CDP) Multi-Personal Computer (MPC). The lessons are designed to be read at your own pace and convenience, while sitting at your computer. You should be able to teach yourself Perfect Writer by reading through, and performing the exercises presented. The first command keys you need to learn are located on the right side of your keyboard: `PgDn' (Page Down) --- Scroll NEXT screen into view `PgUp' (Page Up) --- Scroll PREVIOUS screen into view (Type `PgDn' to scroll to the next screen) `PgDn' and `PgUp' will take you anywhere you want to go, page by page, in the lesson you are studying. Take a few moments to practice them, scrolling the text up and down. When you feel comfortable with them, return to this point. Notice that when scrolling the text Perfect Writer `overlaps' the screen by one, sometimes two lines? This provides a continuous point of reference when moving through the file. (Go to the next screen using `PgDn'.) OVERVIEW: What Is 'Perfect Writer'? Perfect Writer is a tool intended for people who write-- notes, memorandums, letters, reports, term papers, theses, articles, books. It doesn't matter how short or how long, how trivial or how important the work is. If your occupation requires writing, then Perfect Writer is for you. What does Perfect Writer do? To put it simply, Perfect Writer makes writing EASY, by eliminating those aspects of document preparation which are not specifically 'creative.' Writing with a typewriter, or even with a pencil and paper, would be satisfactory if we never made mistakes and never needed to correct or change what we had written. Unfortunately, most of us must draft and re-draft our work, typing and re-typing our documents until they are 'perfect' (or as close to it as we can get). The hard part, of course, is the re-typing. How many times have we re-typed a letter, or an entire report, in order to incorporate a few revisions and additions? (WORSE: How many documents have we not revised, just to avoid re-typing them?) And while re-typing, we often make errors, fumble with correction fluids, and usually start over. With Perfect Writer, this is left behind, and an ease of composition heretofore not possible is experienced. How Does 'Perfect Writer' Work? With Perfect Writer, what is created might be called `soft copy', a representation of documentation stored within the computer. This soft copy is displayed to the computer screen where it can be altered or revised in any fashion desired, and at any time. When composing is finished Perfect Writer will output the final product to a printer. While this is the intent of most word processors, only Perfect Writer allows you to do it quickly, easily, and simply. In these lessons you will learn how easy it is to enter and delete text, search and replace words, move sentences and paragraphs, manipulate two documents simultaneously, format, print, and check the spelling of your document. . .and much more! This is just the beginning. What you will really learn is how much you are truly capable of doing. You will experience an expansion not only of productivity but also of creativity. The Lessons The lessons you are now beginning approximate the organization of the Perfect Writer User's Guide. Although they attempt to illustrate every major command procedure, you will want to consult the User's Guide for more detailed discussions and examples. The computer based lessons which you will be practicing are: Lesson1 Creating a Document Lesson2 Revising a Document: Inserting and Deleting Lesson3 Moving the Cursor Lesson4 Moving and Copying Text Lesson5 Searching Lesson6 Using Multiple Windows Lesson7 Formatting Lesson8 `Spelling' a Document We will begin by discussing those preliminaries that you will find useful in understanding Perfect Writer. First of all. . . . . .The WINDOW Your computer screen is known as the 'window', because it functions like a window that looks in upon the storage area in computer memory where your document is being held. Perfect Writer displays ordinary document text to the window in exactly the same manner as this lesson is being displayed. What you see in the window is exactly what is contained in your document. Changes that you make to the document are immediately reflected in the window. . . .The CURSOR The window always contains within it, the screen's 'Cursor', a blinking underline. The cursor is an indicator of where you are in the text. Characters are entered and deleted at the position of the cursor. As you will see, Perfect Writer provides numerous commands for moving the cursor about quickly and easily. . . .The MODE Line The `Mode Line' appears at the bottom of the window, and contains information relevant to the editing you are doing. For example, the Mode Line at the bottom of the current screen indicates that you are: - Using Perfect Writer Version 1.0 - Editing in the `wrap' mode (a mode in which a maximum number of words are typed on a line before they are 'wrapped' to the next line). - Viewing a document called `TEACHME.PW' which is held in a 'window' called `teachme'. - Working at a point in the text about 43% of the way through the file. The ECHO Line The `Echo Line' is a blank line beneath the Mode Line, which `echoes' certain commands that you make. The Echo Line is also used to display system messages and questions when additional information is needed to complete a command procedure.will be reviewed as you proceed through the lessons. COMMAND KEYS vs. `FUNCTION' KEYS Perfect Writer contains its own integrated command structure which can be implemented on virtually any computer. The Columbia Data Products (CDP) Multi-Personal Computer (MPC) is unique in that it offers a variety of dedicated function keys -- such as `PgDn' and `PgUp'-- which perform a variety of operations, from scrolling the screen, to moving the cursor, to inserting and deleting lines, and more. Many of these function keys duplicate the commands that Perfect Writer offers. In these lessons you will, wherever possible, emphasize the dedicated MPC function keys, omitting mention of the corresponding Perfect Writer commands which would accomplish the same command function. The Perfect Writer commands, which will still work on the MPC, are thoroughly documented in the Perfect Writer User's Guide. You may wish to examine these command keys later to decide whether you want to use them or not. Because Perfect Writer provides well over a hundred command functions (far more than could possibly be implemented on the dedicated function keys). We will discuss the basic operation of these commands. THE PERFECT WRITER COMMAND KEYS Nearly all of the keys on your keyboard are used to type alphabetic characters (or letters) into your document. Two keys however, are used to produce commands which tell Perfect Writer to perform certain editing operations. These keys are the ESCAPE Key (labeled 'Esc' on your keyboard), and the CONTROL Key (labeled 'Ctrl'). When used in combination with the keys on your keyboard these keys produce a variety of commands that tell Perfect Writer to delete characters or words, to split the screen, to move the cursor, to save files, etc. How do the CONTROL and ESCAPE Keys Work? - The CONTROL Key works like a common shift key. It is DEPRESSED and HELD while the second character of the command is typed. Control commands are very common. One is `Control---G', the CANCEL Command, which tells Perfect Writer to cancel any command that has not yet begun executing. - The ESCAPE Key, unlike the Control Key, need not be held while the second character of the command is typed. It has only to be depressed and released, followed afterwards by whatever key completes the command. One Escape Command is the END OF PARAGRAPH Command (Escape. . .N), which moves the cursor to the end of the current paragraph. - EXTENDED COMMANDS: The Control Key is sometimes used together with an 'x' to produce an 'extended' command. That is, the Control key is first typed together with an 'x', followed by whatever key or keys complete the command. The QUIT Command (Control--X, Control--C), which is used when you want to quit using Perfect Writer, is an extended command. Extended commands are reserved for important operations that have far reaching effects in the program, and that should never be executed `accidentally'. We will review the operation of these commands keys as we encounter them in the following lessons. WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET `STUCK' Any time you get `stuck' in a command operation that is either confusing or appears to be in error, you have two ways of `recovering': 1) The CANCEL COMMAND Any command which Perfect Writer HAS NOT YET BEGUN EXECUTING can be canceled by typing: CONTROL---G Thus, if you are half-way into a command and change your mind and want to stop and go back, the Cancel Command will return you to where you were BEFORE. 2) `Resetting' the Computer If you find yourself in a situation that appears impossible to recover from (i.e. you accidentally DELETE half of the lesson you are practicing), the best solution may be to `RESET' the computer. To do this hold the `Ctrl' and `Alt' keys while pressing `Del'. This will return you to your Disk Operating System from where you can reenter Perfect Writer and begin the Lesson again: Ctrl---Alt---Del Your MPC will `reboot', asking for a new `date' and `time', followed by the DOS prompt `A:'. When the computer is reset, all material in machine memory is lost. However, since the lessons are permanently recorded on your diskette, you can begin them anew. The HELP DIRECTORY At any time during editing, Perfect Writer will display to the screen a `Help Directory', containing all command procedures which Perfect Writer uses. The directory will display at the top of the screen overwriting whatever text is there. The commands are grouped by the command function they perform--Deleting, Searching, Moving the Cursor, etc. To view a particular set of commands, type the number of the group followed by a carriage return. It is useful to know what commands are available to you through this directory. At this time, give the following HELP Command and review the directory, making various selections: Esc...? (Use your shift key to type the question mark.) To exit the Help Menu, type: Control--G The FUNCTIONS KEY DIRECTORY The ten Function Keys at the left side of your MPC keyboard have also been defined to produce Perfect Writer commands. Each Function Key, besides operating individually, has been made to work together with the Shift, Alt, and Ctrl Keys to produce nearly 40 of Perfect Writer's commands. Although we will not be discussing these keys in the following lessons, each is defined in the `Functions Key Directories'. To view these directories, type: `F1' -- to see a directory of what the basic function keys do. `Shift--F1' -- to see the commands produced when each function key is typed together with the Shift Key. `Ctrl--F1' -- to see the `Control--Function Key' Commands. `Alt--F1' -- to see the `Alt--Function Key' Commands. `Control--G' to erase the directory QUITTING At this time if you do not want to begin the first lesson on `Creating a Document', type the QUIT Command: CONTROL---X, CONTROL---C holding the `Ctrl' Key, type `x' and then `c'. Perfect Writer will return you to the Main Menu, from where you may exit to your operating system. Perfect Writer respond with the message `Ignore Changes This Session?', answer `y' for yes. If you want to proceed to the first lesson, type the READ DOCUMENT Command: CONTROL---X, CONTROL---R the `Ctrl' Key and type 'x' and then 'r'. Perfect Writer responds with the message in the Prompt Line: `File to Read: ' Type the file name "b:lesson1', followed by a carriage return. After a few seconds Perfect Writer displays Lesson # 1: `Creating a Document' End of Introductory Lesson�